Photo: VOA

By THE PULSE NEWS MEXICO STAFF

Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced Wednesday, June 16, that his state will build a border wall along the state’s boundary with Mexico.

Speaking during a press conference in the border town of Del Rio, Texas, Abbott said he would discuss the plan in great detail next week, but said that his government has been working with local farmers and ranchers who favor the wall’s construction.

Abbott said that his administration made the decision given the fact that the Joe Biden administration has “refused to meet its obligations to protect U.S. borders,” thus leading to an unprecedented surge in illegal immigration, crime and illegal drug sales that threaten the lives of Texan residents.

The Biden administration issued a proclamation that stopped border wall construction begun by his predecessor Donald Trump on his first day of office.

Abbott announced the news of the new wall’s construction while discussing a variety of border initiatives, including a $1 billion allocation for border security in the state budget lawmakers just passed in Austin and a plan to establish a Governor’s Task Force on Border and Homeland Security with public safety and state government officials.

Nearly four months into the Biden administration, U.S. officials report only limited signs of progress in stabilizing a chaotic situation at the U.S.-Mexico border, with unauthorized migrant crossings continuing at multi-decade highs for this time of year.

The number of migrants encountered by U.S. authorities began rising last year after Biden won the elections and increased dramatically in early 2021.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s enforcement data for April showed undocumented migration at a 20-year high, with 178,622 migrants apprehended.

Border apprehensions in April were 3 percent higher than March’s total of 173,348, and significantly higher than the February total of 101,120.